The latest news on avoiding dairy products if you are lactose intolerant, have milk allergies, are a vegan, or want to keep kosher.

The Lactose Intolerance Clearinghouse Has Moved.

My old website can be found at www.stevecarper.com/li I am no longer updating the site, so there will be dead links. The static information provided by me is still sound.

For quick offline reference, you can purchase Planet Lactose: The Best of the Blog as an ebook on Smashwords.com or Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com or a whole lot of other places that Smashwords is suppose to distribute the book to. Almost 100,000 words on LI, allergies, milk products, milk-free products, and the genetics of intolerance, along with large helpings of the weirdness that is the Net.

I suffer the universal malady of spam and adbots, so I moderate comments here. That may mean you'll see a long lag before I remember to check the site and approve them. Despite the gap, you'll always get your say. I read every single one, and every legitimate one gets posted.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

"Functional" is the new buzzword in the food industry. Functional products have had some "extra" added to them to make them healthier. At least according to whatever the latest fad in health might be.

I scoff, but it's hard to dismiss these foods. It's far better to add ingredients designed to promote health than more sugar and fat.

I've written extensively about these products in the past. In Functional Nondairy Makes Europe Healthier I mentioned several European soymilks that had plant sterols added in the hopes of lowering cholesterol counts in those who drank them.

And in this country, I looked at two new products from Silk that they claimed offered "nutritionally dense and very smart solutions by incorporating all the vitamins, minerals and heart-healthy soy protein of regular Silk, plus added fiber or Omega-3 DHA."

Silk is at it again, launching yet another functional soymilk, Silk Plus for Bone Health.

This new addition to the Silk Plus product line provides added calcium in every glass, and incorporates all the vitamins, minerals and heart-healthy soy protein of regular Silk. As an added benefit, NutraFlora® natural prebiotic fiber has been included to help the body absorb calcium more effectively.

Silk Plus For Bone Health is a great way to take in more of the nutrients that support strong, healthy bones. Every serving of Silk Plus For Bone Health delivers 400mg of calcium – 40 percent of the recommended daily value and 30 percent more than you’ll find in a glass of dairy milk.

"Silk has always delivered great-tasting, high-quality soy products to health-minded consumers," said Scott Stevens, general manager for Silk Soymilk. "By introducing Silk Plus For Bone Health with NutraFlora® prebiotic fiber and added calcium, we continue to meet their needs and make it easier for consumers to get more of the nutrients they need in the products they use every day."

Prebiotic? That's not a typo for probiotic. Yes, I've written about that before as well, in Prebiotics and Probiotics. I quoted Wesley Canfield of the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center:

Prebiotics ("before life") are nondigestible or fiber components of foods, usually complex carbohydrates that beneficially affect the host by stimulating the growth of intestinal bacteria. Certain bacteria prefer a particular prebiotic to use as a source of energy.

About Me

I'm lactose intolerant. I wrote the book on the subject. Literally. Milk Is Not for Every Body: Living with Lactose Intolerance is its name.
I've researched everything on the subject of lactose intolerance for 30 years. I know just about everything about living without dairy products. That means I've been able to help people with dairy protein allergies, vegans, those who want to keep kosher, and others who want to reduce, limit, or eliminate dairy from the diet.
I keep an eye out for information that might be useful. You can see a lot of it at my website, Steve Carper's Lactose Intolerance Clearinghouse (www.stevecarper.com/li). The Milk Free Bookstore and the Product Clearinghouse sections have something for everybody. But the site got too big to update regularly and too cluttered to find information easily.
That's why I started this blog. It really does cover the planet for lactose- and dairy-related items. I think I have the only blog in the world that does this.
So please check it out regularly. Send me items you think may be of interest. Ask me questions: I answer every one, either here or by email. stevecarper@cs.com